Alien Bride

Vraik and I share a glance. It is just like the old days, fighting forces that seem impossible to beat.

This is a noble fight. If we don’t hold onto each other, we will have no platform to build from.

Vraik whispers, “Just keep holding on. Keep pushing. Keep fighting. For her.”

“For her ghost,” I say.

We fight for Emma, our golden goddess.

In the center of the building is the tallest skyscraper known to our kind. To those on the outside, it is referred to as Slain’s Scepters.

At the top are two large blades. In the center is blue light, not argonon but made of some unknown mass of energy. I am sure it is Resnyx.

The sentinels carry us inside, through an elevator that rushes to the top floor. “No,” I mutter. “I can’t do it. I can’t be here again.”

I’ve stepped foot in this putrid city before, right when it was first built. At the time, I thought it might serve as a hub for Slain’s soldiers. In the end, the plans were discarded.

There is no justice in Empire City. The sentinels are hounds. And the Emperor is none other than the devil himself.

He is the most powerful warrior in the universe.

The door opens to a large hanger. The sentinels bring us into the darkness, punching and prodding whenever we budge.

I’m a bloody mess, but eventually, it all starts to blend together. The pain, the glory, the love I felt. It all turns into one thing: life. Survival.

And I’m ready to do anything to survive.

The sentinels drop us on the ground near a large craft. Compared to our mothercraft, this is nothing. There are turrets and cannons constructed within every groove. Power vacuums rest on the north and south ends of the craft, designed to steal the energy from neighboring warships.

It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

The sentinels disperse, and a low voice curdles through the dense silence.

Slain.

“You have come back,” he says. “Why?”

I spin. I don’t know where the voice is coming from.

I feel the urge to bow, but I stand before the Emperor himself, bruised and broken, ready to destroy my name for the good of my people.

Vraik’s wrists tremble against his cufflinks. “Slain, you have made a grave mistake,” he says.

His voice booms. “No. For me, everything is going according to plan.”

I run around the side of the great mothership, searching for the alien. “Show yourself, coward,” I shout.

“The Resnyx,” Slain says. “Where have you hidden it?”

I glance at Vraik and shake my head, warning him to keep his mouth shut. “You could give us the world. It won’t bring her back,” Vraik says.

Slain appears from the shadows. I can still hardly see him. “You have made acceptance of your death?” he asks.

I bow my head, but my eyes stay focused. “Dead or alive, what’s the use for me now? You have killed the one woman I could fall in love with.”

“Pathetic,” he scowls. “Why have one woman when you can have hundreds?”

I inch forward. “Is that your concession? More women?” I ask. “Our war against you has already begun.”